13, December 2017

India will host the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB

India will host the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB at Mumbai on 25th and 26th June 2018.

In this regard, the Government of India and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Secretariat have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to delineate the duties and responsibilities of major stakeholders who would be involved in organizing the aforesaid Annual Meeting.

The Theme of the Annual Meeting, 2018 will be “Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration”.

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Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production – Base 2011-12=100

The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of October 2017 have been released by the Central Statistics Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The General Index for the month of October 2017 stands at 123.0, which is 2.2 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of October 2016. The cumulative growth for the period April-October 2017 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 2.5 percent.

The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of October 2017 stand at 101.2, 124.3 and 149.8 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 0.2 percent, 2.5 percent and 3.2 percent as compared to October 2016.

The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). These are Electricity , steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers.

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1.27th National Energy Conservation Day to be celebrated on 14th December, 2017

Source: PIB

LETS TAKE A PLEDGE TO SAVE ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE LIFE

President of India will give away National Energy Conservation Awards to industries that have demonstrated measurable reductions in their energy use as part of the National Energy Conservation Awards Programme.

BACKGROUND

The Energy Conservation Day is organized on 14th December each year by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power, with an aim to demonstrate India’s achievements in energy efficiency and conservation, while working for its ambition of holistic development as part of the nation’s overall effort towards climate change mitigation.

As part of its awareness outreach, BEE recognizes and encourages endeavours of industries in reducing energy consumption by felicitating them with National Energy Conservation Awards.

BEE also awards prizes to the national winners of the annual National Painting Competition on Energy Conservation.

In order to realize its development goals, India’s energy demand is expected to double between 2013 and 2030, to approximately 1500 million tonnes of oil equivalent. The mission of BEE is to assist in developing policies and strategies that will help reduce this energy demand by promoting widespread adoption of energy efficiency measures.

BEE:

The Government of India set up Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on 1st March 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

The mission of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy. This will be achieved with active participation of all stakeholders, resulting in accelerated and sustained adoption of energy efficiency in all sectors.

Energy Efficiency in SMEs

To encourage the energy efficient technologies and operational practices in SME sectors in India.

BEE-UNIDO-GEF Project:

Bureau of Energy Efficiency, in collaboration with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), is implementing the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded national project “Promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in selected micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) clusters in India”.

The government is in talks with Asean countries to extend the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) highway up to Vietnam consultations are being held on the extension of the 1,360 km IMT highway from Moreh in India to Mae-Sot in Thailand to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Significance:

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways speaking at the Asean-India Connectivity Summit, organised by industry body CII said that the connectivity will give a tremendous potential in terms of incremental GDP generating annually an estimated USD 70 billion in incremental GDP and 20 million in incremental aggregate employment by 2025.

3.FAME India scheme- National Mission on Electric Mobility under Dept. of Heavy Industry

Source: The Hindu

Original equipment manufacturers will have to seek approval from the Department of Heavy Industry before accepting any proposal to supply electric buses for availing incentives under the FAME India scheme.

The move is aimed at facilitating the smooth roll out and management of demand incentives for electric buses under the scheme.

FAME India scheme:

With an aim to promote eco-friendly vehicles, the government had launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) scheme in 2015.

FAME India – Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India – is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.

The scheme envisages Rs 795 crore support in the first two fiscals starting with the current year. It is being administered by the Heavy Industries Ministry.

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4.Nation Two Crucial Bridges in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh

Source: PIB

Two crucial bridges in eastern Arunachal Pradesh have been dedicated to the nation. The bridges have been built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Functioning under the control of the Ministry of Defence since 2015, the BRO is engaged in road construction to provide connectivity to difficult and inaccessible regions in the border areas of the country.

Project Udayak

Out of two first Injupani Bridge, a 140 metre long bridge on Roing-Koronu-Paya road, which is a part of Trans Arunachal Highway.

The completion of the Injupani Bridge would provide an uninterrupted access between Roing & Tezu, both important district HQs in Arunachal Pradesh.

Second the Deopani/Eze Bridge, which is 300 metre long pre-stressed concrete balanced cantilever bridge over the Eze river at Roing in Arunachal Pradesh.

Dedicating both the bridges to the nation, the Minister praised the commendable work being done by Project Udayak of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in this region.

Completion of these crucial bridges, which would provide round the year connectivity to the strategic Dibang valley bordering China.

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5.India, Australia call for ‘open’ Asia-Pacific zone

Source: The Hindu

Both sides call for the need to maintain the region as a ‘free’ and ‘open’ zone.

India and Australia:

Continuing with the strategic bilateral discussion, Australia and India discussed the need to maintain the Asia-Pacific region as a “free” and “open” zone under the “2+2” dialogue model which includes the foreign and defence secretaries of both sides.

The discussion was the first meeting of this level since the two sides participated in the quadrilateral discussion for a new strategic partnership targeting the Asia-Pacific region.

Key facts:

Both sides agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large.

There is a growing convergence of strategic perspectives between the two countries.

Freedom of navigation

The “2+2” dialogue was held between Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and their Australian counterparts Frances Adamson and Greg Moriarty.

The dialogue indicated that the focus remains on freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where China has been reclaiming land for infrastructure, boosting its maritime influence.

Way ahead:

Asia’s third largest economy, India – remains on the outside of the APEC grouping despite a membership request dating back more than 20 years. India in APEC would help offset the now-overwhelming influence of the Chinese economy, while also embedding India in a forum that would nudge it toward further economic reform.

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